If there is an emerging truck brand tht has praised way more than it has delivered over the past decade, and which is still falling well short of expectations, then it has to be Korean suer brand Hyundai.
Unlike unknown Chinese brands which are trying to fight for awareness and brand identification, Hyundai has been there and down that, having built a prominent brand awareness from a time when they were an undesired, cheap and cheerful economy car brand to aspirational automotive engineering led organisation.
To go from a $13990 drive-away no more to pay car brand to have an array of technologically advanced machines spanning cars and trucks is no mean feat but the truck side has been neglected and badly handled in Australia, particularly given the brand position the name has in the market.
So it was that the Hyundai truck branding was run out again at the recent Brisbane show with the Hyundai factory owned electric/zero emission models being promoted by the Hyundai corporation and the very good but clearly under marketed and funded diesel models, which are handled by an independent company in Australia.
As Truck and Bus News has observed before, what an absolute bun fight all this creates, and what a waste of resources and potential the entire show has created.
So a further two years on from the last Brisbane Truck Show, we had yet another launch the Hyundai Mighty Electric at the biennial National Truck Expo with not a lot that has changed in that period.
The many was claiming at Brisbane that while it initially launched its Mighty Electric Truck in Australia in 2023 that it has introduced a range of enhancements for 2025. Hold the front page!
It claims that these updates focus on improved performance, safety, and versatility, catering to the evolving needs of urban logistics and delivery services. In reality very little has shifted.
It claims that its Mighty Electric features a 114.5kWh lithium-ion (LFP) battery, delivering a range of up to 200km when fully loaded, making it ideal for urban operations and last-mile deliveries. Same as before really
The caiman claims that the range was validated in a tray body configuration with air conditioning active, tested under typical Australian urban driving conditions, with the vehicle’s 120kW electric motor providing 320Nm of torque.
The company is claiming that charging is convenient and versatile and tha the electric light duty truck supports both AC and DC charging via a CCS2 combo port – accepting up to 6.6 kW AC or 100 kW DC fast charging.
As a result Hyundai is claiming that when using a 100kW DC charger, the battery can be replenished from eight per cent to 100 per cent in approximately 71 minutes, which the company claims makes a full recharges possible within a standard lunch break for most drivers, although some fleet managers and operators may challenge these numbers as being realistic.
As well as that Hyundai is claiming that for faster turnarounds, a 20-minute fast charge during a delivery stop can add approximately 100km of rang, and that the truck also features a two-stage regenerative braking system, which it claims can recover up to 33 per cent of braking energy, which further enhances overall efficiency.
One aspect that the company has changed since the last Brisbane Truck Show is the fact that the Electric Mighty is now available in either a 4.5 tonne GVM on a standard car licence or as a 7.3 tonne GVM on a truck driver’s licence.
As a result of this the company is now claiming that the 7.3-tonne model now provides a braked towing capacity of one tonne, with a non-braked capacity of 380kg, while the 4.5-tonne variant offers a braked towing capacity of 3,8 tonne and non-braked capacity of one tonne.
The company told the media in Brisbane that the Mighty Electric is now also available with the choice of a factory option a ready-to-go solution for general freight with 4.2 m x 2.353m alloy tray, a factory built tipper body Ideal for construction and waste management sectors, and a third option offering a pantech or refrigerated pantech option, suitable for temperature-controlled deliveries.
Hyundai is claiming its now ageing Mighty Electric is also equipped with what it describes as its “Hyundai SmartSense”, its suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) designed to enhance safety.
The company says this features Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Departure Warning, dual front airbags, Hill Start Assist, traction control, and a rear-view camera and class it is backed by its own five-year/200,000 km warranty and an eight-year/400,000 km battery warranty, with scheduled servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000 km, with the total cost for the first five years estimated at under $4,300.
Hyundai also uses the Brisbane Show to announced its new dedicated network of authorised electric truck dealers across Australia, which it claims provides a comprehensive sales and service support for both its battery electric Mighty Electric range and Xcient Fuel Cell truck range.
The small Hyundai commercial dealer network is made up of Peninsula Hyundai in Bankstown, which is also the national distributor for Hyundai’s conventional diesel range of trucks, and is also a dealer for the electric range. Along with Peninsula there is also Adtrans Hyundai Trucks at Smeaton Grange in Sydney’s south west, Adtrans Hyundai Trucks at Laverton in Melbourne’s South West, Hyundai Truck Centre Canberra in Fyshwick, Gold Coast Hyundai Trucks at Southport in Queensland, East Coast Hyundai Trucks at Acacia Ridge in Brisbane’s south west, AD Hyundai Trucks at Pooraka in South Australia and WA Hyundai Trucks at Welshpool in Perth’s east